Posted on 10/02/2008 3:11:17 PM PDT by hecht
Harry Reid Screws Up Again Creates Run on Insurance Stocks
Harry Reid never met a stupid comment he didn't like. His latest brush with the Stupid Fairy occurred last night during the debate on the banking bailout. Nancy Pelosi's Senate Butler decided to make his best Chuck Schumer imitation by announcing that there is an American Insurance firm on the verge of bankruptcy. Reid's statement caused a run on Insurance stocks:
The Harry Reid Run In stumping for the needed (though flawed) bailout bill yesterday, Harry Reid warned that an unnamed American insurance firm was teetering on bankruptcy. Those of us who cover Washington for a living have long since learned to ignore Harry Reid’s every utterance. Unfortunately everyone can’t afford to be so blasé. Reid’s idiotic comment has had a profound effect on both Wall Street and Main Street today. MetLife for one felt compelled to publicly declare they weren’t Reid’s endangered carrier. Fine good it’s done them. As of 12:15, their trading price had plummeted 10%.
Predictably, Reid’s comment has hammered the entire insurance industry, giving our economy one more major headache when such a thing was least needed. Now when I say this effect was predictable, I’m speaking only for people with common sense and not necessarily senate majority leaders. As of midday, here’s where the insurance industry carnage stood along with the corresponding financial loss:
MET down 10.7% or ~$3.6Bn
PRU down 3.8% or ~ $1.4Bn
AFL down 4.14% or ~$630mm
TRV down 3.75% or ~$950mm
As Harry Reid doubtlessly understands, the above figures just reflect the damage done to common stock. The story is similar when it comes to preferred stock. For those of you who prefer the big picture, the S&P Insurance 500 is down 4.5%, or $15 billion. Think of all the wooden arrows you could buy with that kind of chunk of change!
Such incidents leave me grasping for ways to understand the economic ignorance of much of our political class. Reid could have made the exact same point without referring to a specific industry, right? And he surely knows that the markets are a touch jittery these days, correct? And yet he said what he said.
At tonight’s debate, Gwen Ifil will probably give both contestants a chance to display their understanding of the present crisis. The contenders will pull this off with varying levels of skill. Hell, they may even do great. But as Harry Reid ably demonstrated last night, one can hardly overstate how poorly the political class as a whole understands complex economic matters.
Maybe he’s not an idiot. Maybe he’s a arsonist, helping keep the economic issue burning?!!
The dems have wanted a depression for 8 years and they may just get their wish.
This is calculated. Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer (Indy Mac) should be thrown in prison.
That would be my thought. The dRats have to have an economic problem to win. They can not win without one.
Are you sure about that?
Not to give Reid too much credit, but I wouldn't be surprised if he said it to help drop the market lower in an effort to push fear and create evidence that the bailout needs to be passed.
I suspect Harry is trying to help his hedge fund buddies. Using what most people would call “insider information”, he tanks the stocks and his favorite financiers get a nice position and excellent upside potential.
I think he should lose his majority leader position for this.
In other words, Reid and company are guilty of deliberately sabotaging the economy of the United States, for political gain.
What is the difference between this and what Al Qaeda did to the economy/Wall Street/Stock Market on 9/11?
If you say they they had the same deliberately planned results, then are you talking TREASON.
Tampering with the economy is a federal crime, and in a time of war, it is capital offense (my law).
No offense, but why the surprise. This has been an integral part of the Dem playbook for years. Although I would put it in these terms:
Reid and company are guilty of deliberately sabotaging the [insert name] of the United States, for political gain.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095719/posts
see the interview with the ex Soviet spy linked in post 67 (I think it was 67).
Talks about the infiltration of marxist philosophy into the USA over 40 to 50 years of time.
Then, with just 6 weeks of crisis - and the marxists take control with wonderful promises - which after 50 years of being conditioned to fairly reasonable. Then comes years and years of “normalization”. (He relates how after the tanks going into Czechloslavia the period afterwards was considered “normalization”.)
I wouldn’t put anything past these dems. They do have it pretty good right now. Put up a socialist bill, and if it gets defeated they can “blame” the crisis on the Republicans and get Obama elected. Either way its a win. For them.
By the way - Sept. 28 to Nov. 4 is pretty close to six weeks!?
“The Dems have wanted a depression for 8 years and they may just get their wish.”
They may be wishing they had some tax cut prosperity to lean on if Hussein is elected. Clinton had some Reagan tax cut prosperity that made him look good. Carter didn’t. - If the people are gluttons for punishment and elect Hussein, then they’ll deserve what they get. Maybe Nancy and crew should have watched what they wished for; seems like we’ve been circling the old toilet flushing hole ever since they got in control. I shudder to think how much damage they can do if given total control.
Financial Terrorism = Harry Reid and Chucky Schumer
No offense taken at your comments. I doubt that’s what Reid is doing.
But I take extreme offense at Dingy Harry’s thoughtless, idiotic comments.
As a practicing Mormon, I am constantly embarrassed by the harmful and borderline treasonous acts and words of Senator (”this war is lost”) Reid.
As an employee of one of the major insurers that were ravaged today by his brainless, reckless comments, I am incensed. He is repeating unfounded rumors, causing irrational panic, destroying shareholder equity and endangering thousands of jobs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.